Feminist Ethics and Research with Women in Prison

• DOI: 10.1177/00328855221079265
• Author: Christina Quinlan,Lucy Baldwin,Natalie Booth
• Date: 01 March 2022
• Published date: 01 March 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Feminist Ethics and

Research with Women

in Prison

Christina Quinlan

1

, Lucy Baldwin

2

, and

Natalie Booth

3

Abstract

In this article, a new model, An Ethic of Empathy, is proposed as a guide for

researchers, particularly new scholars to the discipline. This model emerged

from the authors’concerns regarding the application of ethics to studies that

focus on the experience of female offenders in criminal justice systems. The key

issue is the vulnerability of incarceratedandpost-releasewomeninrelationship

to the powerful status of social scientist researchers. The complexity of ethics in

such research settings necessitates a particular ethical preparation, involving forma-

tion, ref‌lection, understanding, commitment, care, and empathy. Three cases are

outlined which document the authors’ethicalformationsasresearchers.

Keywords

ethics, research, women, prison

Introduction

In this article, the issue of ethics and research as applied to studies of women

in prison is explored. All three authors have researched the experiences of

women across correctional settings, criminal justice systems, social justice

1

Technological University Dublin, Ireland

2

De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

3

Bath Spa University, Bath, UK

Corresponding Author:

Christina Quinlan, Technological University Dublin, Graduate Business School, Aungier St.,

Dublin, DO2 HW71, Ireland.

Email: Christina.Quinlan@TUDublin.ie

Article

The Prison Journal

2022, Vol. 102(2) 172–195

© 2022 SAGE Publications

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00328855221079265

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venues, and social control dynamics. This involved being engaged critically

with incarcerated women and their lived experience of prison space, and

with their experiences of motherhood and mothering roles during and after

prison. This has led to our ref‌lections on the pains of imprisonment while

engaging ref‌lexively with our own outsider perspectives. Fundamentally,

we are concerned with the power and status of the researcher and the profound

ethical issues that arise in the particular circumstances of women-as-subject

studies in correctional settings. We believe that these issues have a level of

complexity that necessitates a particular ethical preparation, formation, ref‌lec-

tion, understanding, commitment, care, and empathy.

We, therefore, suggest that research with women in criminal justice systems

(CJS) and especially women who are still imprisoned should be undertaken

only after great consideration of the power and status imbedded in researcher

roles. In this article, we present three cases which outline each of our experiences,

concerns, and development in terms of ethical applications to our own research

with women in prison. We propose a new model, An Ethic of Empathy, which

we hope will be of use to researchers, in particular to new scholars in the disci-

pline, as a guide to their ethical ref‌lections andreasoning relatedto their carceral

studies. We want to contribute to a continuing discussion on r esearch ethics, with

emphasis on studies of imprisoned women and vulnerable women in criminal

justice systems. Through sharing our experiences, we hope to promote a deeper

and more critical engagement with research ethics.

Literature Review

In penology and in criminology, ethical issues in research are generally deemed

to be well rehearsed. The American Society of Criminology (ASC) has, for

example, a very elaborate published Code of Ethics, (American Society of

Criminology, Code of Ethics), which sets forth general principles and ethical

standards for use in guiding academic investigations. Instead of a Code of

Ethics, the British Society of Criminology (BSC) has a Statement of Ethics for

Researchers, (British Society of Criminology, Statement of Ethics), designed,

as detailed in the Statement, to ref‌lect a changing landscape and emerging

codes of practice. The British Society of Criminology emphasises the importance

of a continuing discussion around issues such as research integrity and research

misconduct, while asserting the need for researchers to be protective of the rights

of participants, including their sensitivities and right to privacy.

Grounding in ethics is central to research, and an in-depth understanding of

ethical practice applications is essential for every researcher. Criminal justice

system research often involves engaging with participants who have contravened

the law. The implications for those conducting such investigations can be

Quinlan et al. 173